The theme of the con, according to The Wildman, is "They have lost the plot".
From excessive standing in line, to not being able to get into panels, to huge crowds, the convention seems a little lost. To top it, next year the rates go to $175, with no discount for those who get full con badges.

It becomes a test of endurance, like Shao Lin temple aspirants waiting outside the gates until only one is left. To some, it is just about bragging "I went to San Diego Comic Con and you didn't". Servers crashed multiple times when online registration was attempted fro m late last year until around February this year. Only those of us willing to backspace and refresh repeatedly for hours were even able to get badges.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Eating early breakfast to get in line to get my badges. Yes, badges. After the online registration debacle, I could not get full convention badges and had to get daily badges. This after hours of clicking a few months back. At least they are not making me line up each day to get badges.
There are attendees already up and about. I leave now to get my badge.

Some 20 minutes later, I get to the end of the badge pickup line. I am by Buster's (see pic) in the medina. The line winds and doubles back, so it is more than the 0.6 miles Google maps reports. At least it is a cool San Diego morning. Regardless, I am grateful to be here with the fellow fans at one of my favorite shows. It has been too long since I was here.

We needed a way to get info out more quickly. This fit the bill for now. If anyone has better suggestions, such as Mac blogging software or blog sites, we would love to hear from you at blog@chimeramag.com